Eric Andersen – SILENT ANGEL: Fire And Ashes Of Heinrich Böll

The album starts (and ends instrumentally) with an old German song about the famous river Rhine. The Rhine has been an artery of life and commerce stretching back to the days of the Romans and before, and within its ancient flow is a long history that matters deeply to the people of Cologne. It runs from the Swiss Alps to the Dutch North Sea through the heart of Cologne and everything in the city seems to be close by. Petra Münchrath is the wife of Werner Meyer the owner of the vinyl record company label Meyer Records.

One spring day while driving along the river she sang me an old popular song she heard as a child. The tune and verses sounded vaguely like a refrain of a Cabaret number from the pre-war 1920’s Weimar Republic. Petra’s childlike singing and the catchy German melody were pleasing. She explained it was a song about a silly little fish swimming in the Rhine, and if the river waters were made of golden wine, she could be drinking all the time, she would never have to buy any more, and the waters would be an endless golden cask that would never run out.

The story and melody stuck in my head. When it came time to write and plan the recording for this album I realized that her song about an innocent little fish swimming in the Rhine would be a perfect opener for what hard stuff was to come. And isn’t this project of Heinrich Böll also a small portrait of wartime Cologne? On the last day of the session Petra came in with an accordion player and recorded the song in German to set the opening mood of the album.

I am deeply grateful to Petra, Werner, and all the musicians who brought this project to fruition. - Eric Andersen

- Audiophile LP, 180g, gatefold cover, - The Album comes out for the 100th Anniversary of Heinrich Böll in December Erhältlich ab 29.12.2017